Planning Your Meals and Snacks

[suzanne sanders]

Eating right does not begin at the stove or at the table. It starts with a plan.  But the best-laid plans are worthless if they don't fit your activities and food preferences.  Planning your menus means more than just thinking about what you will eat.  

You should write down your food choices on a day-by-day basis:  The process should not feel overwhelming.  If it does, perhaps you are making too many changes too quickly. 

Set small goals for yourself, such as scouting out certain sections of the grocery store each month, practicing label reading.  Substitute new healthy foods instead of a high fat, high sugar processed foods.  Do not buy foods with hydrogenated oils or fractionated oil.  Do not buy foods with artificial color or flavor. Emphasize vegetables, legumes, vegetables, organic meats, fruits and grains.  Make nutritious foods readily available. 

Concentrate on food preparation only once or twice a week.  Plan one evening on the weekend and /or one evening during the week to cook enough foods to last the rest of the week.  Keep it simple.  make your meals attractive.  Samples include vegetables in every meal.  how would you dress up your spaghetti, chili, or meat-loaf?  cook with vitamins in mind.  Determine the correct serving sizes. Use a child's plate. 

Eat satisfying snacks.  If you would rather hit the snooze button than eat breakfast, prefer to skip lunch and run one more errand, are too tired to eat right, or are so busy trying to have it all that you eat for convenience rather than for well-being, it is time to review your priorities.  What you eat is one of the most important, but often most ignored, factors determining how you feel--physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Although youth may mask the effects of poor nutrition, even small children show marked improvements in energy, concentration, intelligence, and mood when they eat right.  Putting nutrition on the back burner will only escalate the problems as you age. 

Changing your dietary habits takes a little extra time and effort at first.  Fortunately, it will pay off in the long run as you begin to feel, think, and look better.  In addition. the process gets easier as old habits slowly drop by the wayside and are replaced with new, self nurturing ways of living that help you reach your full emotional and physical potential.  Remember, aim for progress, not perfection.  View fueling your body as a creative opportunity to refashion yourself into the best person you can be.

Be Kung Fu With Your Food 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEvAkdYjjw&feature=related

A healthy nutritional journey the begins today will continue for the rest of your life.